Micro Encapsulation - a novel way to increase shelf life of products

Microencapsulation increases the shelf lives of products of various categories, including liquids, solids, fluffy edibles and even gases. In this process, a thin layer of microscopic particles is formed around a substance for preservation. A thin coat is made around the minute particles or droplets of solid or liquid, made of an uninterrupted polymeric film. Bio-encapsulation is confined to trapping any substance that can be considered biologically active while enhancing or prolonging its quality sustainability and extending its shelf life.

With around 1.38 billion mouths to feed, India has to put up with Hidden Hunger as well – where a person lacks important nutrients in his diet like Iron, Zinc, Iodine, Vitamin A and Folic Acid etc. Smartly tackling the nutrient deficiency, the Indian Government has started to put milk, rice, salt, oil, wheat, and other nutrient-rich edibles through microencapsulation. Hence, and rightly so, the initiative has surfaced as a breakthrough to tackle the menace of Hidden Hunger.

The microencapsulation also helps in avoiding the unwanted side effects of the direct mixing of micronutrients with food components. For example, direct mixing gives rise to various sensory changes and weakens the bioavailability due to exposure of the wheat flour components to such sensory changes.

Direct mixing causes the flavor and color to change in the fortified foods due to the active interaction of minor nutrients. Fortified chapattis have been found to lose color and gain an off-flavor if made of whole wheat flour with iron added directly to it. Zinc and iron have also been found to reduce moisture and protein contents in whole wheat flour. This invites the use of appropriate technology in the realm of fortified foods because micronutrients have been observed to reduce bioavailability along with undesired and sometimes unhealthy sensory changes due to direct mixing.

Shelf life also has high importance when it comes to food commodities. It is the duration an edible product is considered safe for consumption and sale. However, many microbial events and chemical preservatives can affect the foods' shelf-life, ultimately warding off consumers from buying the products.

Microencapsulation offers increased nutrient retention, protection against oxidative degradation and prevents interaction of sensitive food ingredients from losing color, flavor, or any other uninvited change in fortified foods. Furthermore, as microencapsulation protects staple components from losing micronutrients, better storage and processing of fortified food can also be attained due to higher bioactivity by the added compounds.

Yogurt has also shown promising results having 4, 7 and 10 mg iron per 100-gram yogurt. The yogurt was microencapsulated with iron whey protein complex while fortified with iron whey protein complex and ferrous sulphate. Nonetheless, a metallic taste was developed in the yogurt with ferrous sulphate fortification and became highly oxidized. However, due to microencapsulation with the iron-whey protein complex, the fortified yogurt's quality and taste were observed to have improved, with no oxidation noted. Hence a longer shelf life was possible for the product.

Microencapsulation will soon become indispensable and pave the way for a better food future. Therefore, it is highly probable that both food artists and scientists will be testing their metal on this big leap in food-relevant technology in the near future.